THE promotion and protection of seafarers’ rights remains a foreign-policy priority, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said over the weekend.
The DFA said Filipino seafarers comprise about "one-fourth of the global seafaring workforce and make an indispensable contribution to international shipping, trade and global supply chains."
"They often work far from the protection and support of their home countries, underscoring the need for effective international cooperation during armed conflict and other emergencies," the DFA posted on X.The Philippines welcomed the recent statement issued by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk calling for urgent action to protect thousands of seafarers facing a grave humanitarian and human rights crisis in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
“The protection and safe repatriation of stranded seafarers is both a human rights obligation and a humanitarian imperative,” Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations Carlos Sorreta said.
“The Philippines joins the High Commissioner’s call for immediate measures to safeguard their lives and dignity and to ensure that they receive essential supplies, consular assistance, safe passage, repatriation and the wages owed to them,” Sorreta said.
About 6,000 seafarers aboard some 400 vessels remain stranded in the area, with many others unaccounted for. At least 17 seafarers have been killed since the conflict began. Some seafarers have reportedly been abandoned by shipowners without adequate food, water, fuel, medical care or means of communicating with their families, and without arrangements for repatriation or the payment of wages owed to them.
Türk said that attacks against civilian vessels, which are protected under international humanitarian law, are unacceptable.
The Philippines also raised the need for concerned States, shipowners and other concerned groups to respect the protection afforded to civilian vessels and their crews under international humanitarian law and to uphold seafarers’ human and labor rights.
The DFA said the Philippines welcomed Türk’s reference to the Manila Declaration on Seafarers’ Human Rights, Safety and Well-Being, which he described as a landmark global call to action.
Adopted at the International Conference on Seafarers’ Human Rights, Safety and Well-Being hosted by the Philippines in Manila in September 2025, the declaration calls for stronger cooperation among governments, international organizations, shipowners, maritime industry stakeholders and seafarers’ representatives to protect the dignity, safety and well-being of seafarers.
The DFA said Türk's statement also reinforces the objectives of Human Rights Council resolution 56/18 on the promotion and protection of the enjoyment of human rights by seafarers. Initiated by the Philippines and adopted by consensus in July 2024, the resolution called for stronger international cooperation to address human rights violations and abuses affecting seafarers.
"The Philippine Mission regards the High Commissioner’s statement as a timely and important contribution to international efforts to protect seafarers and uphold their human and labor rights," the DFA said.
